During the first few days of April 2020 the planet Venus moved towards and then through the Pleiades star cluster. Venus and Pleiades have a conjunction every year but every eight years the conjunction is at its closest. This year, Venus moved right through the star cluster.
Conjunction of Venus and Pleiades
I shot images of Venus and Pleiades on three nights: 01 April, 03 April, and 05 April. Venus and Pleiades were closest on the night of 03 April. I then did a composite image of the three nights showing the progression of Venus past the star cluster. These were all shot at 8 seconds, f/4, 180mm, and ISO 800.
Additionally, I overlaid another image taken 13 February 2020. This is a stacked composite with 11 images shot at 120 seconds, f/4, 180mm, and ISO 1600. The images were stacked using Starry Sky Stacker. The stack was then post-processed using rnc_color_stretch. This composite image was used because it shows the nebulosity and color within the Pleiades better than the shorter exposures captured that show the motion of Venus.
Composite image of Venus and Pleiades.
The image above shows the composite from the three nights without the additional layer showing the nebulosity.
I recently acquired a used lens that I plan to use for astrophotography. The Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 ED AI-S is well-known as an excellent lens for this purpose—assuming, of course, you get a good copy of the lens.
Pleiades (M45).
Jerry Lodriguss, over at AstroPix, has this to say about the lens:
The Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED lens is a legendary lens, and with good reason. It’s performance for normal daytime photography is simply outstanding. And it is pretty darn good for astrophotography also…
I have been looking at used copies of this lens on-and-off for several years but have never actually been excited enough to purchase one. That is, until I saw one listed in MINT condition for an extraordinary price. The lens was offered by Tempe Camera and the store was close enough that I could drive down there in a few hours. Off I went…
And the lens really was in Mint condition. After a bit of checking and a few test shots I bought it. Now it was time for testing. On my first night my results weren’t that great but I attribute that to the fact that it was COLD and my fingers weren’t very good at getting sharp focus and it was windy causing the camera to shake resulting in blurry images.
So, I headed back out again the next night. I sought a location without wind and at a lower elevation hoping for warmer temperatures. Well, it wasn’t warmer but there was no wind. And the results were pretty good. Comparing the results at various ƒ/stops (ƒ/2.8, ƒ/4.0, and ƒ/5.6) I could see how the image improved with smaller apertures. And a comparison with my very old Nikkor 80-200mm AI-S ƒ/4 showed that the 180mm was better than the zoom lens at equivalent apertures.
I’m pretty happy with the quality of the lens and the price I paid. Now all I need is some clear skies to get out and do some more shooting.
The past few nights have been interesting. On the evening of December 13–14 was the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This year the expected peak was around 100–120 meteors per hour and various meteor counts appear to confirm that number.
At the same time, Comet 46P/Wirtanen has been getting a lot of attention. On December 16 it made its closest approach to Earth—only 11.5 million km away. That’s about 30 lunar distances for reference.
From SpaceWeather.com: “Although the comet is very close to Earth, it is not very bright. 46P/Wirtanen is a relatively small comet and, thus, barely visible to the unaided eye despite its proximity. It is nevertheless an easy target for digital cameras. Even a short exposure reveals the comet’s spherical form and emerald green hue.”
During the late evening of December 13, I traveled to Wupatki National Monument because of its dark skies. I shot a sequence of photos—each of 30 seconds duration—of the night sky hoping to catch a few meteors. One bright meteor blazed across the sky and I was able to catch part of it before it moved out of the frame of the camera. At the same time, the crescent Moon was setting in the west and gently illuminating Wukoki Pueblo. At the very top center of the photograph is Comet 46P/Wirtanen.
Geminid meteor, Comet 46P/Wirtanen and Wukoki Pueblo.
After about 1/2 hour of shooting meteors, I shot longer exposures of the comet. On this night, the comet formed a triangle with the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. The image shown here is from ten 60-second images stacked using Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) and post-processed using rnc-color-stretch.
Comet 46P/Wirtanen with the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.
A few nights later, the comet had moved so that it was between the Pleiades and Hyades clusters. Again, I shot a sequence of 60-second exposures totaling about one hour in duration—this time from the Mormon Lake overlook. The motion of the comet is quite apparent in this sequence of images. The first image shows the motion of the comet against the stars; the second is a time-lapse movie of the same sequence.
The motion of Comet 46P/Wirtanen is seen as a short streak in this one-hour composite image.
Time lapse movie showing the motion of Comet 46P/Wirtanen during a period of one hour.
Comet 46P/Wirtanen is now moving farther from Earth and will slowly dim in brightness but it will remain visible through binoculors, telescopes, and with digital cameras for many weeks or more. There is still plenty of time to see the comet if you haven’t already.
The past few weeks have offered a few interesting objects in the night sky + one daytime event.
Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák has been an easily photographed comet—albeit not a very bright one—in the northern sky. The first image below was taken during the interval 2103–2153 MST 15 April 2017 and is comet-centric which shows its motion amongst the stars over that period. The second image was captured during the interval 2117–2221 MST 16 April 2017.
Earlier in the month the full Moon and planet Jupiter rose together in the sky above the stark—but colorful—landscape of Wupatki National Monument.
Moon and Jupiter rising above Wupatki National Monument.
A few days later the International Space Station (ISS) could be seen rising in the northwest then moving towards the southwest. Along the way, it passed very close to the belt of Orion, then faded away as it entered Earths shadow. The ISS track—and the stars—were reflected in the waters of Lake Mary.
ISS transiting the western sky.
Mars and Pleiades were close together in the evening sky on 21 April 2017. Here they are seen shortly after sunset with some lingering color still present on the western horizon. Mars and Pleiades can also be seen as colorful reflections in the waters of Lake Mary.
Mars and Pleiades in the western sky.
Although I have photographed the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the face of the Moon, this is the first time I’ve tried a solar transit. The ISS moved from the 5 o’clock position towards the 9 o’clock position in just under 1/2 second.
International Space Station transitting the sun.
On 27 April 2017 a crescent supermoon was visible in the western sky. What is a “crescent supermoon?” From SpaceWeather.com…
What made the crescent “super”? Anyone reading NASA press releases in recent years has heard of “supermoons” — full Moons that are extra big and bright because they occur on the perigee side of the Moon’s elliptical orbit. Last night’s sky show was the same phenomenon, writ slender. The crescent Moon of April 27th occurred at perigee, making it as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than other crescent Moons of the year.
I had hoped for still waters so that I could get a nice reflection but strong and gusty winds continued well into the evening.
